


I Promise

by lrhaboggle



Category: Martyrs (2008), Martyrs (2015)
Genre: Afterlife, Death, F/F, Martyrdom, Murder, Torture, semi romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-07
Updated: 2018-04-07
Packaged: 2019-04-19 18:13:16
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,649
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14242968
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lrhaboggle/pseuds/lrhaboggle
Summary: GRAPHIC VIOLENCE/TORTURE/ABUSE Lucie and Anna were bonded forever, through life and what came after. They were bonded through pain and love combined and utter devotion, all wrapped around one promise that they were both intent upon keeping.





	I Promise

"Anna, please don't ever leave me," little Lucie whispered to her best and only friend.

"I won't. I promise," Anna vowed. She was dead serious and those last two words were spoken with such a ferocity that it warmed Lucie's heart like the sun. What she didn't realize, though, was how true those words would become in time…

When Lucie found the family that had tortured her as a child, she killed them all without a second thought. After her senses returned, though, she did the first thing she could think of. She called Anna. Anna was living on her own now, but she was still ready whenever Lucie needed her. It was a kindness Lucie could never repay. Lucie felt bad about forcing Anna into this nightmare, but she had nobody else and now was really not the best time for her to try and cope with being alone…

So she called Anna down, silently apologizing to the girl ahead of time. Now, Anna knew that something was wrong the moment Lucie called her with a cryptic message about finding "them" but that had not hindered her in driving right on over to where Lucie had directed her. The moment she crossed the house's threshold, however, she could not deny an overwhelming sense of horror. Of all the Hell Lucie had dragged her into, this was definitely the most extreme and Anna hadn't been prepared at all for it.

Once the initial shock wore off, however, Anna was able to regain her senses and she, though still disturbed and mad at what Lucie had done to this family, offered to help clean everything up. Anna chose Lucie above everything else. It was a miraculous thing that, even now, Lucie couldn't comprehend. She was broken beyond repair, but Anna still saw her as something worth love, hope, sacrifice and time.

"Thank you," Lucie sighed into Anna's hair as they curled up in bed together after a long day of burying bodies.

"I promised, didn't I?" Anna teased back weakly. Lucie could hear the strain in her friend's voice. She felt bad about dragging Anna into this, but she was so glad that Anna was here. Lucie knew the wise thing to do would be to insist that Anna leave now and never try to see her again, but Lucie didn't think she could take losing Anna. Not the only girl who ever really loved her. Not the only girl who could save her from the demons that attacked her day and night. So Lucie only snuggled closer to her best friend and kissed her head in the most comforting way possible. Anna turned her face up to Lucie's and their eyes met and Anna gave Lucie so sweet a grin that Lucie felt her ice cold heart melt.

If Lucie had known that this would be the last time she would see Anna smile, she would've taken a picture, not that her tormentors would have let her keep it. No, the very next day after burying bodies, Anna and Lucie both were captured. They were sent back down into the torture chamber Lucie, herself, had been imprisoned in all those years ago. Panic attacks came in spades as the PTSD washed over her like a riptide. Being tied back down here again was the most unbearable fate she could've ever imagined and already, that peaceful night with Anna felt like a lifetime ago despite having only been maybe 24 hours at most. She screamed and cried through her gag and when she saw Anna in the next cell over, the tears came even faster. Seeing Anna trapped down there with her made Lucie's hopelessness all the stronger.

What really drove Lucie over the edge, though, was seeing her new tormentor come in. He held an electroshock machine in one hand and a scalpel in the other. An assistant rolled a table full of knives and needles in. Lucie almost fainted from fear. Almost. Sadly, though, she retained consciousness through the whole bout of torture. Every last needle and knife was pushed into Lucie's body and Lucie felt it all. She was totally voiceless by the end of it and that had only been the first torture session. Lucie knew from experience that there were many more to come. When they finally let her be, again, Lucie could hear Anna pleading and sobbing for her from the next cell over. Lucie could also tell that Anna had screamed herself hoarse too, even if Lucie had failed to hear it over her own agonized crying, sobbing and howling.

"Anna. I'm sorry," Lucie mouthed, returning from her lethargy to hear a shrill set of shrieks splitting the shadowy air. She gave a defeated sigh and didn't even try to cover her ears as Anna's screams shattered her ears and heart. The guilt she felt knowing she was responsible for her dear, sweet, eternally-supportive Anna's suffering hurt almost as bad as the physical blows she endured. "Please, forgive me…" she begged as Anna continued to squeal and beg. Lucie bitterly regretted not sending Anna away when they still had the chance.

The next day, the tormentors came back to Lucie instead of Anna. Lucie cowered, chains rattling as she shook.

"Why are you doing this to me?" she whimpered as they dragged her from the floor and strapped her to an operating table with binds that bit sharply into her wrists. "Why are you doing this to me? And to her? My Anna?" she pleaded next. "Why are you doing this to us?" but the only sound that answered her pleading questions was the scream of a buzz saw. Lucie had to endure the unpleasant experience of having her skin slowly sliced off by the spinning blade and then peeled slowly away, exposing tender flesh to the cold and dusty air. Lucie screamed and screamed.

But finally, once Lucie lost most the skin on her limbs and had gained several dry gnashes on her back, somebody answered her questions.

"We are doing this because we need a martyr," he said. "And you aren't living up to your potential," he added. Lucie nearly let out a mad laugh. Who would live to their potential if they were constantly tortured and who would want to find their true potential if that potential was all about how much pain they could take? This man was insane! "That's why we've been trying out your friend, Anna. She is stronger, but we don't know if she'll last any longer than you did…" he remarked, those words lingered dangerously in the air and Lucie whimpered.

"Don't hurt her anymore. Please," she begged. The tormentor nodded once before leaving.

Lucie knew what that had been about. They really wanted Lucie as the martyr, but she'd only reach that title if she let herself be tortured and now they had found a way to get Lucie to agree to such a demand: Anna. They were going to dangle Anna in front of Lucie and if Lucie didn't take the pain, Anna would. Now Lucie was at a stalemate. Part of her wanted to take this pain for Anna in gratitude for all Anna had done for her, but at the same time, that was easier said than done. Sure, the noble thing to do would've been to beg for Anna's life, but Lucie didn't exactly want to suffer any more pain either. Even if it was for Anna… Finally, though, Lucie made her choice. As hard as it was, she knew she would never forgive herself if Anna ever found out why they were torturing her instead of Lucie.

"They won't hurt you anymore, Anna. I promise," Lucie whispered as her tormentors returned, making good on their promise to leave Anna be.

But one day, Lucie heard the sound of screaming from the cell next door. Anna was being taken away. Lucie never saw her again.

"You broke your promise. You broke your promise! YOU BROKE YOUR PROMISE!" Lucie sobbed and screamed at her tormentors, louder every time. "You promised you wouldn't hurt her anymore and then you took her from me! You killed her!" she sobbed and spat in rage and grief but they didn't answer her this time. Instead, they dragged her out of her own cell and led her to a new operating table. Somehow, Lucie knew this was the last stop for her. Even though it scared her to death, the grief at failing Anna weighed just as heavily as her impending doom and the tears came in floods to rival the rivulets of blood spurting from her back. She stopped fighting then, once she realized that her dear, beloved Anna was no longer with her. She went comatose in mourning.

"I'm sorry, Anna. I'm so sorry. I broke my promise," she wept as the buzz saw screamed into her back. "I failed you, I'm sorry…"

Lucie was aware that she was alive after her last operation, but that was about it. All she remembered was fuzziness and pain. Life was a blur and she was still half in a coma. She could feel her heart beating, but that was the only indicator that she was alive. Her senses weren't exactly up to snuff even though they did technically function. She just wasn't processing anything they picked up. Then the unexplainable happened. She came back. The fuzziness got a tad clearer and she felt herself falling into warmth. She felt a warmth at her side and even though she was immobile from the days of torture, she desired to draw closer to the comforting warmth. Lucie died before she was able to wrap her mind around what was happening. Just a bit later, the warmth at her side followed her into the darkness.

"I'll find you wherever you go," a voice whispered as it died. "I promise."

**Author's Note:**

> AN: I just wanted to write a "Lucie protects Anna" even though I'm sure that, if she was offered this ultimatum, she would've gladly let Anna be tortured in her place just because, as much as we like to think people are willing to suffer for the ones they truly love, it can be a lot harder to actually do, especially in a scenario like this.


End file.
